1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cutting devices used to cut flat horizontal layers of material. More particularly, it relates to cutters used to accurately measure and cut backing mats for flat artwork that is to be displayed in a frame format.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous mat cutting devices are presently available on the market. Two of these known devices are sold under the names of ALTO'S EZ MAT CUTTER (U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,751) and LEICHTUNG MAT-CUTTING SYSTEM. These devices both employ two parallel straight arms that are adjustably connected by means of two locking racks. Both of these devices have two locking points. The arms of these cutting devices are provided with two linear scales to measure the dimensions of the mats and to make sure that the two arms are not misaligned. The EZ MAT CUTTER suffers from the weakness of having only a finite number of settings due to the peg type locking mechanism it utilizes.
Further devices relating to this field can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 513, 851 issued to Wheeler and 280,328 issued to Putnam. Neither of these devices relates closely to the applicant's unique device for cutting mats. The Wheeler device lacks the pivoting means that is unique about the applicants cutter. The Putnam device is a chart holder and protractor that utilizes a complicated mechanism to locate navigational points on a map. Additional devices are disclosed in Pat. Nos. 491,307 issued to Gaylord and 4,747,330 issued to Carithers. Again, neither of these devices disclose applicant's system of cutting artwork mats.